


The Wolf in the Blooming Rose

by PishPoshMoth



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: A little, Brothel AU, Crack Fic, F/M, Female Lavellan - Freeform, Fics for Friends, Finding Solas, Fun, House sitting for Fenris, I suspect you have questions, Kirkwall, Lavellan inquisitor, Lavellan/Solas Angst (Dragon Age), Meme, Pre-Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser DLC, Sexy Solas?, Solas - Freeform, Solavellan, The Blooming Rose, We ALL have questions, lavellan - Freeform, meme fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 13:06:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30089526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PishPoshMoth/pseuds/PishPoshMoth
Summary: Lavellan finally finds Solas...in the most unlikely of places.
Relationships: Female Inquisitor/Solas (Dragon Age), Female Lavellan & Solas (Dragon Age)
Kudos: 10





	1. The Cause

**Author's Note:**

> My friend showed me this meme...the rest wrote itself!

**THE PIC THAT STARTED IT ALL!**

Original post by [this-is-a-job-for-vesemir](https://fuckbioware.tumblr.com/post/182116444027/found-solas-in-a-brothel-in-kirkwall) with addition by [fuckbioware](https://fuckbioware.tumblr.com/post/182116444027/found-solas-in-a-brothel-in-kirkwall)


	2. The Effect

She walked down the alley, trying to keep her nerves steady. She made sure to go in the early hours of the morning, just shy of the lightening sky that would signal the dawn. Anyone out at that hour was more concerned with either making it home before the regular crowd could see their rumpled clothing and mussed hair, or with getting started with another long day of work.

It had taken two years to find him. Two years of Leliana's spies scouring all of Thedas, looking in every crumbling elven ruin, every cave, every forest. Two years of Varric carefully prodding his network for news, in case he had decided to hide deep underground. Two years of campaigning with the Inquisition, cleaning up the rest of the mess Corypheus had left behind while keeping her eyes sharp for any sign of him.

It had been Iron Bull, of all people, who had located him. Despite being ousted from the Ben-Hassrath for choosing to save the Chargers from utter slaughter, he still had a few contacts. They had told him Qunari search parties (and assassins) had been found as statues all around Kirkwall. Those statues had ended up in the homes of the obscenely rich and ethically questionable.

She had been in Kirkwall for a month, laying low at a mansion that had been occupied by an elven friend of Varric's.

"Although he might disagree about the 'friend' part, if he's feeling particularly broody," he had chuckled.

The 'friend' had gone to Tevinter, searching for something. With a cloak and hood around her, she passed well enough for the absent occupant, and was able to search the city undisturbed while keeping the dilapidated mansion from being claimed by squatters.

Tracking down his location within Kirkwall was another matter. She had checked Darktown, returning each time smelling of the chokedamp that made her gag until she scrubbed her skin clean. She had searched the docks, all of their many unusued warehouses turning up nothing more than gangs and rats. She had briefly checked Hightown, although she doubted he'd be there. Most of her time had been spent looking through every nook and cranny of Lowtown, all without luck.

The last place she checked was the Alienage, suffering through the chokedamp again just to get to it. She'd had it last on her list of possibilities, knowing it was the least likely place for him to hide.

Having found less than nothing among the city-dwelling elves, she was leaving the Alienage when an elf drew her aside just past the gate.

"Couldn't we have had a discussion on the other side of the gate, _without_ the chokedamp?" She asked through coughs, trying to hold part of her cloak over her nose.

"Well, it, I...I wouldn't want to be... _overheard_ ," the young elf whispered to her. He was nervous, looking over his shoulder and walking further away from the gate. He started down a dark alley, but she planted herself at the entrance without going a step further. No good could come from a conversation with a stranger deep in a dark, narrow alley.

"That's far enough. What do you want?"

"The elf you're looking for...the one you were asking about...I heard your description..." The elf twisted his wedding band around his finger, unable to keep still. He looked over his shoulder, then her shoulder, then above him.

" _Yes_?" The city elf was starting to make her feel nervous, too, his panic infectious.

"Well, you see...I...I'm newly married, arranged, best thing for both our families, but, you know how it is..."

She raised an eyebrow and stayed silent.

"Uh, well, we, uh..." He swallowed nervously, the lump in his throat bobbing. "We don't really know each other, my wife, I mean, and I, and we've been, um, we've shared a, a bed and everything necessary but we, uh..." He trailed off, his hands open and pleading desperately for her to understand. Whatever he was trying to say, it was lost on her.

"Are you looking for advice on your marriage? _From me?_ " He'd earn a punch right in the lump in his throat if that was the case.

"No! No, I, I'm trying to explain, the elf, the one you're looking for, um, I, I think I may have seen him?"

She grabbed the city elf by the front of his tunic and shoved him against the wall, hoping the shock would jar some of the nerves out of him. " _Where_."

"You have to understand," he said, his voice and legs trembling. "My wife doesn't know, she can't know, because she doesn't know me, you know? We don't know each other, and if she wanted to, that'd be fine by me, we could each have what we want and still keep up appearances, but I haven't told her yet -"

"Get on with it _or so help me..._ " She lifted her marked palm, the green light sparking angrily. The mark wouldn't do anything to him, but he didn't know that.

" _He's at the Blooming Rose!_ " It came out as a squeak of terror.

She was sure she had misheard the squeak. "Come again?"

"He's, he's a regular at the Blooming Rose." The city elf squeezed his eyes shut. "Please don't hurt me! I just, I, I needed the money, and, and I..." He lowered his head in shame. "I might...enjoy the work..."

"I don't _care_ , you _moron_! _Tell me about the elf!_ "

He lifted his head and cracked open one eye. "You don't?"

She made her mark glow again, scowling with impatience.

"Right! I've seen him there, chatted with him, if it's the same elf. Kind of tall, no hair, obsessed with elf stuff?"

She let go of his tunic and lowered her hand, but her scowl stayed. "So he's been staying at the Blooming Rose...a brothel?"

The city elf nodded but looked confused. "Uh, I guess you could call it 'staying' there."

She couldn't wait to get rid of this idiot and make her way to the brothel, to finally confront Solas for all the pain and suffering he had caused, not just Thedas, but her. She waited for the last bit of information the nervous young city elf could give her. She wasn't going to go up against Solas without all the knowledge she could get her hands on.

"What else would you call it?"

The elf stared at her. "Working."

"Work... _what?_ "

The elf nodded emphatically. "I'd call it 'working.' He earns his room and some coin besides, just like the other regulars."

"Regular... _workers_..." It came on her all at once, a sudden fit of laughing so loud that the elf in front of her jumped. The city elf quickly darted away from her, leaving her to her mad cackling. She couldn't stop, laughing and laughing, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. She doubled over, trying to keep herself on her feet by bracing against the alley wall, her stomach cramping from the laughter that wouldn't stop.

Solas, working at a brothel.

She had been so wrong when she thought the Alienage would have been the last place he would hide - a brothel hadn't even crossed her mind.

A dozen questions flew around in her head as she continued laughing helplessly: how long had he worked there? What was his rate? Did he put on an act? Who did he entertain?

Finally, her laughter died off. She stood, wiping her eyes, her stomach aching. Chuckles would bubble up at random as she made her way back to the mansion.

She had waited the rest of the night, writing out notes on her findings, snorting each time she remembered just where he was. She tried to sleep, without luck. Instead, she gathered what she needed, stuffing it into the secret pocket sewn into the waistband of her pants, and stared into the fire, waiting.

Now, a little while before dawn, she exited the alley, expecting the front of the Blooming Rose to be abandoned.

But he was there.

Standing outside, leaning against a wall.

_Shirtless._

She clamped her hand over her mouth and slowly sunk back into the darkness of the alley. He hadn't noticed her, and she had silenced herself just in time to stop her laughing from running wild again. She watched as he looked at the sky, then left his post and walked back into the brothel.

She had finally found Solas, in the least likely place she could ever imagine.

And the best place she could have hoped for.

Once she was sure he wasn't coming back out, she waited until she saw someone heading towards the brothel. She swiftly walked out of the alley and through the door behind them.

He wasn't in the main room. Good.

A plump dwarf looked her up and down, her corset laced so tight that her body seemed to be trying to escape its merciless grip. "You here to work, or spend some coin?"

"Coin."

The dwarven woman eyed her skeptically, then shrugged. "What's your flavor, then?"

She described Solas, and the dwarf's mouth twisted in confusion.

"You sure? He's not all that popular with the customers. Kinda hard to get along with."

"I've never been so sure in my entire life. I want to see him, as soon as possible."

The dwarf raised her hands and stepped back. "Alright, calm down. Maybe you two _will_ get along. Same... _intensity_." Her tone didn't make that seem like a good thing. She yawned and waved for her to follow.

The dwarf left her in front of a room towards the back, out of the way, obscured. It seemed like the rooms closer to the customers were for the more frequently visited workers.

Her heart pounded as she reached out to knock on the door. What would he do when he saw her? What would _she_ do when she saw _him_?

The door opened before she finished knocking, too fast for her to plan her reaction.

"Hel-" The word died halfway through his lips, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Hello, Solas."

His wide eyes quickly narrowed into a glare as he pulled her inside, sending her stumbling into the small bedroom.

He shut the door, then leaned against it.

Still shirtless, she noted.

"It was inevitable that you'd find me." He shook his head. "I hadn't thought it would be this soon."

She looked around the room. It was simply furnished, books and papers everywhere. She wondered if his 'messy scholar' aesthetic was what attracted some of his customers.

Or maybe it was the giant eluvian on the wall opposite of the bed. He noticed her staring at it.

"I suspect you have questions." He sounded hopeful, and for a moment, she was back in the rotunda, looking at his murals with hidden eyes and howling wolves, talking about his journeys and his studies and his experiences, learning so much she would never have otherwise known.

She removed her cloak with a flourish, then pulled a stack of bills from her hidden pocket and set them down with a slap on top of papers scrawled with ancient elvhen writing.

"Nope."

His shocked silence and rapidly spreading blush were just too perfect, but she managed to keep the wild laughter at bay.

"You...cannot be serious."

"Can't I, though?" She couldn't help the delighted smile that spread across her face. She finally had him at a loss for words, a singular feat she had not achieved the entire time he was with the Inquisition. It wasn't the revenge she had been looking for, but she couldn't deny how sweet it tasted. She gestured to him. "Well?"

He reached towards his chest, only remembering he was half-clothed when his fingers brushed his own bare skin. His blush spread further, reaching down his collar bones and up his ears.

"Would you _mind_?" He asked indignantly, gesturing back to her. He started going through drawers in the dresser near the bed. Most of the drawers, of course, contained books and papers.

"Solas, I've seen you naked." A few stray chuckles escaped her, but she held the rest back.

He slammed a drawer shut and opened another, glaring at her.

She sighed and turned around. "Fine, but you better not - _fuck!_ "

By the time she had turned back around, he was through the eluvian. The surface ceased shimmering as her hand slammed into it, solid once more.

" _Dammit!_ " She slammed her fist against the still-solid mirror again. _Idiot_ , she thought, staring at her face. _Of course he would run once your back was turned!_ She kept looking into the mirror, trying to see past her reflection into the crossroads beyond. "I _will_ find you, Solas!"

He stood on the other side and watched her pocket the stack of bills she had set out, then carefully and thoroughly gather each book and parchment he had scattered around the room.

"I don't doubt that, _vhenan_." He slipped the shirt he had been able to grab over his head and turned, heading for Vir Dirthara, still blushing.


	3. Bonus

**Solas' face when he opens the door and sees Lavellan:**

****


End file.
